Jet lag is not tiredness. It is a disagreement between your body clock and the clock on the wall, and the two of them argue for as long as it takes the body to give in — usually one day for every time zone you crossed. The fastest way to deal with it is to give the body strong, clear signals about where it is now: daylight at the right hours, food at local times, and one long period of real rest in the first two days.

Most advice stops there, and it is good advice. What it leaves out is the part I see every week: the nervous system arrives more stressed than the body. After a long flight people are not just sleepy, they are wired — heart a little fast, mind a little loud, unable to nap even when they finally lie down. That state does not fix itself with a coffee on the Croisette.

This article gives you the practical checklist first, then the one thing I would add to it.

The plain checklist for the first 48 hours

Light. Get outside in the morning on day one, even for twenty minutes. Daylight is the strongest signal your body clock has. If you arrived from the east, morning light pulls you forward; from the west, afternoon light works better. Either way: outside, not behind glass.

Meals at local times. Eat breakfast when the Riviera eats breakfast, even if you're not hungry. The digestive system is a second clock, and it listens.

No big nap. Twenty minutes is fine. Two hours in a dark room at 4 pm will cost you the night.

Water, less alcohol. The plane dried you out. The rosé on the terrace will not put it back.

Move, gently. A walk along the sea in Antibes does more than a workout. You want circulation, not another stressor.

Do these five things and most people feel normal by day three. The problem is the two days in between — and that is where most of a week's holiday, or a first week after a move, quietly goes.

Why the body doesn't just switch off

A long flight is a long stretch of low-level alert: noise, dry air, no real sleep, a body held still in a seat for hours. By the time you reach your hotel the tiredness is there but so is a background hum that will not turn down. People describe it as "exhausted but can't sleep", or "I lay down and my brain kept going".

That hum is the sympathetic nervous system — the fight-or-flight side — still running at cruising altitude. Until it stands down, the rest signals you send (dark room, cool sheets) don't fully land. You can be doing everything right and still be awake at 3 am.

What I add: one session in the first day or two

This is the reason the Arrival Reset exists. It is a 45-minute Reiki session in your hotel room or villa within 48 hours of landing. You lie down, fully clothed. I work with hands placed lightly on or just above the body, in a set sequence, without conversation. Most people go somewhere between deep rest and sleep within ten minutes.

What it does, in plain terms: it gives the nervous system a strong signal that it is safe to stand down — the same signal that a very good night's sleep gives, but delivered while you are still awake enough to receive it. People tend to sleep properly that night, and the checklist above starts working the way it is supposed to.

I will not tell you it resets your circadian rhythm; nothing does that in 45 minutes. It resets the state you are trying to fall asleep in, which is the thing that was actually blocking you.

A note on timing

If you land at Nice airport on a Friday afternoon, Terminal 2 to a hotel in Cannes is about forty minutes on the A8. A session at 7 pm that evening, before dinner, is ideal. Second best is the next morning. By day three the window has mostly closed — you're through the worst of it on your own, and a session is still pleasant but no longer doing the job it was built for.

Reiki is complementary. It sits alongside whatever you already do for sleep and health, and does not replace medical advice if jet lag is severe or you have a condition that travel affects.

FAQ

How long does jet lag last after a long-haul flight? Roughly one day per time zone crossed, so a flight from New York to Nice usually means three to five days. Light, meals at local times and one properly restful night in the first 48 hours shorten it.

Can a Reiki session on the day I land really help with jet lag? It won't change your body clock, but it settles the nervous system so the rest you need can actually happen. Most people sleep well that night, which is what shortens the rest of the adjustment.

Where does an Arrival Reset session happen? In your hotel room, your rented villa, or on a yacht at anchor — anywhere on the Riviera from Saint-Tropez to Monaco. You need a quiet room and 45 minutes; I bring everything else.

If you're landing soon

Message me on WhatsApp with your arrival day and where you're staying. Same-day and next-day slots are often possible, and the earlier in the first 48 hours we do it, the more of your week you get back. The Arrival Reset is €180, travel within Cannes, Antibes and Nice included.